Silence
by Leslie Emm
Summary: My second set of numbers for the challenge on the challenges forum, I got Ellie Danville and Stella Bonusera. Here it is... One shot.


**Silence**

_This is in response to my own challenge on the challenges forum. I had two more numbers picked for me and got Ellie Danville as my minor character and Stella Bonusera as my major. This is set between seasons 6 and 7._

…...

Ellie Danville edged nervously into the room, she was new here. And not just _here_ in this building, but new to the city, the way of life, and school. The school that she was fast starting to hate, to dread going to, and starting to think of ways and excuses to avoid.

She took a vacant seat, listening vaguely as the woman in the middle talked. Platitudes about 'finding yourself' and 'being who you wanted to be' washed over her. She'd heard it all before, and it still made no sense. She knew who she was, and one thing was for certain, she wasn't a New Yorker. Even the accent got on her nerves. And how could someone of her age know who she wanted to be? She was a mish mash of nature and nurture. Born to one mother and raised by someone else.

She barely looked up as a woman sat carefully beside her. She just hoped she didn't want to talk, that was the worst, when the adults wanted her to talk to them and offered their sage wisdom to her.

…...

Stella Bonusera looked at the half familiar faces. She hadn't made a habit of coming here over the years, she didn't need the 'support' of such groups. She had her friends, and the lovers that had come and gone, and of course, the professor. But still she'd come here on and off, it had started when the department of child services decided it was a good idea to send kids like her to groups and let them 'open up'. The only thing it had taught her was that she was different. Many of the kids here had been adopted, only her and the small group she came with were what was genteelly referred to as 'orphans'. Grew up in orphanages and a series of foster homes. The adopted kids, in her opinion were out and out brats, most of them. They had a loving family who had taken them in, wanted to make their lives good and whole and what did they do? Whine about it! Complain that they felt they were 'missing' something. It had made her so angry. But with the benefit of adulthood she could see that those children were no different really to her and she kept returning to the group, offering support to others where she could.

The girl she had sat next to appeared lost in her own thoughts, scowling slightly to herself now and again as the group leader spoke and picking at the hem of her coat. Stella understood, she understood well enough to hold her tongue and not offer the child any more corny lines about what being adopted meant, that it didn't make you different. She merely sat and listened with her companion.

…...

With a muted apology Ellie bent to pick up her bag. It had fallen while she'd been slowly unpicking the hem of her coat, an action her mother would probably hit the roof over.

Stella smiled at the girl, seeing the automatic good manners as she'd mumbled something that sounded like 'sorry' and picked up the bag that had landed on Stella's foot. The action had made her jump but hadn't hurt, or been intentional.

Ellie wondered if this would serve as the ice breaker, if the smart looking woman would want to now talk, seeing as eye contact had been made. But she didn't, she merely sat and watched as the group now started to interact with each other, telling and listening to stories.

Ellie felt a small sense of disappointment, the woman seemed nice, OK, and although she'd never in a million years strike up a conversation herself, she found herself sort of wishing the woman would. Delving into her bag she pulled a tattered bag of sweets, taking one she held them in the woman's line of sight, her eyes asking the question.

Stella frowned slightly and then looked at the girl, she was being offered a sweet, by a stranger. Her mouth twitched at the age old sayings we give to children about strangers before she gave the girl a wonderful smile of thanks and took a sweet, were there any sayings that prohibited adults taking candy from strange children? She doubted it. The sweet was tangy and not as sugary as she had expected, and she grimaced.

Ellie grinned as she noticed the woman's reaction, she turned the bag around so that she could read the title 'sourz', emblazoned across the bag. The woman grinned back and Ellie offered another, surprised when it was taken.

…...

Twenty minutes later Ellie found herself behind the woman she'd shared her sweets with on the way out.

Stella turned as she went to leave, this was her last stop before the airport and she didn't have long now. Seeing the girl who had given her the sweets she gave a smile, and had it echoed back to her. This smile was however relaxed and happy, and Stella thought she saw the expression of gratitude in her eyes. She turned and left, not looking back.

Ellie watched her go, moving yet another sweet from one side of her mouth to the other, suddenly she felt better about being in New York.


End file.
